


Four Times Hermione Felt Guilty About Kissing Ron and One Time She Didn't At All

by Edie_K



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Humor, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Romantic Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-12 06:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29880465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Edie_K/pseuds/Edie_K
Summary: “Well, just in case, let me state that I fancy you and I was asking you out and it was a date."Five vignettes about Hermione and Ron kissing under morally dubious circumstances set during Half Blood Prince.
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 16
Kudos: 20





	Four Times Hermione Felt Guilty About Kissing Ron and One Time She Didn't At All

**Author's Note:**

> A few points to start - 
> 
> * Hermione and Ron range from what she would call “morally dubious” to what I would call “shady AF”.  
> * Don’t take the title as some sort of misogynistic, “homewrecker” take on Hermione. Ron is equally, if not more in the wrong... he just doesn’t feel quite as guilty in the moment.  
> * Infidelity is not good and I don’t condone it and I’m glad that Ron and Hermione didn’t get together under those circumstances. But this was still fun to write.  
> * My headcanon is that if Ron had a Hermione guarantee, he’d have been less of a coward in ending things with Lavender. Check the author’s note at the end for more on that.  
> *A huge thanks to cheesyficwriter for her beta help on this story. Her advice and suggestions make the story flow so much smoother. Check out her work on AO3 - Isolated is a personal favorite of mine.  
> *The bolded and italicized words that head each section come from Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince. I do not own them.

1\. November 16, 1996

**Excerpt from Chapter Fourteen of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince**

**_“He wasn’t exactly hiding it, was --?”_ **

**_The door behind them burst open. To Harry’s horror, Ron came in, laughing, pulling Lavender by the hand._ **

**_“Oh,” he said, drawing up short at the sight of Harry and Hermione._ **

**_“Oops!” said Lavender, and she backed out of the room, giggling. The door swung shut behind her._ **

**_There was a horrible, swelling, billowing silence. Hermione was staring at Ron, who refused to look at her, but said with an odd mixture of bravado and awkwardness, “Hi Harry! Wondered where you got to!”_ **

**_Hermione slid off the desk. The little flock of golden birds continued to twitter in circles around her head so that she looked like a strange, feathery model of the solar system._ **

**_“You shouldn’t leave Lavender waiting outside,” she said quietly. “She’ll wonder where you’ve gone.”_ **

Hermione felt the rage build up in her chest. She had an overwhelming feeling to curse him but she fell back to a more familiar one when dealing with Ron. She needed him to know  _ she  _ was right. Her aunt always said that was an unattractive quality in a woman and she gritted her teeth to think that she might be right. 

“Although it’s obvious you have no idea how to treat a girl,” she threw over her shoulder as she approached the door. 

“Excuse me?” said Ron. 

“I just don’t think that agreeing to take a girl on a date and then ignoring her for a week before publicly snogging another one is quite what your mother taught you,” she said primly. 

“Date? What are you on about?” 

“Don’t play stupid. I asked you to Slughorn’s party and I thought everything was fine but-” 

“You didn’t ask me. You said you were  _ going _ to ask me,” Ron insisted. 

“That’s as good as asking!” 

“It certainly doesn’t signal a date!” 

“It does when you spend all summer flirting with the girl that asked you!” 

“Er…” said Harry. 

“Just because I flirt with you doesn’t mean you’re interested in me!” 

“Oh, you need me to just throw myself at you to clue you in? Snog you in front of everyone?”

“It certainly sends a clearer message!” 

“Fine then!” Hermione said. She stalked over to Ron, grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked him down to meet her lips. 

She wasn’t sure if it would be objectively considered a good kiss - the handful of kisses she and Vikor had shared hardly made her an expert - but it was unequivocally the best kiss she had ever had. Ron’s lips were starting to respond to hers and his hands were moving around her back when she pulled away. 

“There!” she yelled, panting a little. “Is that clear enough for you?” 

“I think so,” Ron responded quietly, his eyes wide and searching. 

“Well, just in case, let me state that I fancy you and I  _ was _ asking you out and it  _ was  _ a date,” Hermione said, the anger dissipating from her tone with every word. 

“I, I feel the same,” said Ron.

“You do?” Hermione asked, suddenly feeling quite shy. 

“Yeah,” he said and he leaned down to kiss her again. 

“I’m still here,” said Harry, irritation clear in his voice. 

“Uh, mate, do you mind shoving off? We’re sort of having a moment here,” said Ron. 

Hermione cringed. Harry wasn’t the only one standing around waiting for them to finish their row. She had just stolen her dorm mate’s date. A case could be made that she was just stealing him back but…

“Oh yeah, sure,” said Harry. “I’ll just step out and let Lavender know that you’re done snogging her and you’ve taken up with Hermione.” 

“Would you?” 

“No!” 

* * *

2\. December 22, 1996 __

**Excerpt from Chapter Fifteen of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince**

**_“What’s happened to you?” asked Harry, for Hermione looked distinctly disheveled, rather as though she had just fought her way out of a thicket of Devil’s Snare._ **

**_“Oh, I’ve just escaped - I mean, I’ve just left Cormac,” she said. “Under the mistletoe,” she added in explanation, as Harry continued to look questioningly at her._ **

**_“Serves you right for coming with him,” he told her severely._ **

What an awful party. What an awful boy. 

Hermione had thought that her first choice of escort to Slughorn's party was the most oblivious, insensitive human she could have asked but Cormac had surpassed him by a mile. 

And what had Mr. Impartial said about her plight?

“Serves you right,” she muttered to herself in a mocking tone as she entered the common room. “Well Harry Potter, what would serve you right is to go-”

“What should Harry do?”

As if she didn’t already hate herself enough for this evening, she couldn’t stop the warmth that flooded within her stomach at his voice. She wanted to believe it was just the one glass of wine she consumed but she knew that was a lie. Ron ignored her for weeks but Hermione imagined the idea of her swearing was too much for him to pass up. 

“Never you mind,” she snapped and stomped towards the staircase. 

“What happened to your hair?”

She stopped again. Trust him to notice her slightly disheveled look while missing absolutely everything else. 

“It’s hardly your business.” 

“So you’ve taken up with McLaggen then?” Ron asked, barely containing the fury in his voice. 

This was exactly what she wanted. The entire reason she’d subjected herself to that brute to begin with. So she could play coy and slip up the stairs, leaving him to stew the entire holiday about what was going on between her and Cormac. 

That was what she wanted to do. 

That was what she intended to do. 

But she was just so _ tired _ . 

“No. No, I have not taken up with McLaggen. My hair is messed up because he tried to kiss me and I adamantly declined.” 

Ron looked at her, his face softening. “You did?”

“Yes. I had already decided that the next time I kiss someone, it would be because I wanted to.” 

His face.contorted into anger once more,“What! Are you saying Krum...” 

“No!” Merlin, why was she doing this to herself? “I mean, I want my next kiss to be... romantic. Not for curiosity or validation.” 

“Oh.”

She let her declaration sit there in the silence for a moment. 

“Uh, yeah,” said Ron, shifting uncomfortably and rubbing the back of his neck. “So do you think you’ll get that soon?” 

“Well…” She’d gone this far. She might as well lay it all on the line tonight and then tomorrow, she can go home and cry in her bedroom for the entire holiday. She took a breath and looked at the chair to the left of Ron’s shoulder. “I was hoping that it was going to happen tonight but that went out the window after the Quidditch match.” 

She hazarded a look at him. He was staring at her intently, the shock evident in his eyes. 

“I - I think I want my next kiss to be like that too,” he said. 

“Isn’t that what all of yours are like?” 

“No,” he admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. “None of them.” 

“Oh,” she whispered back. 

Something that looked like determination set on his face and before she could react, his lips were on hers. 

At first, his lips were soft and tentative and she could almost feel the trepidation radiating off of him. Her lack of experience left her unsure of how to convey that this was lovely, it was real and she wanted this. She decided to stop overthinking and just do what seemed natural. She pushed forward and pressed up as close to him as she could. 

He immediately groaned, wrapped his arms around her tight, and deepened the kiss. 

_ Whoa _ . 

This was not lovely. This was…something else entirely. 

As they broke apart, Ron tentatively asked,“Was-was that romantic?” 

She gave him a blissful smile. “Perfect.”

He leaned in again but she stepped back, biting her lower lip. “Or, it would have been perfect except for...” 

Ron looked stricken. “Except for what?”

“The infidelity taints the romance a bit.”

He looked confused for a moment. “Oh, right. But if it wasn’t you know, morally objectionable, you would want to...” 

“Immediately do that again? Yes,” she said with a smile. 

“Brilliant,” he grinned. But then his face fell. “I just wish it weren’t the end of the term. We can’t have a repeat until we return. Unless you can come for Christmas?”

“I can’t cancel on my parents again. But maybe New Years?”

“That’d be excellent. Still nine days away though.”

“Well, don’t dawdle tomorrow and we’ll see what can be arranged on the train,” she responded and she shocked herself with how sexy and confident she sounded. She liked it. 

Ron seemed to appreciate it too because his face split into a huge grin. “Sorted.”

“Well,” she said awkwardly. “I’m going up to bed.”

“What?” Ron asked. “Sit down, let’s talk. We haven’t talked in ages and… I owe you an explanation and, and, and an apology. And I have questions for you. Plus, we have to get into this stuff with Harry and Malfoy - what the hell’s going on there?” He motioned to the couch. 

“We will, I promise. Not tonight though.”

“Hermione,” he whined but it wasn’t as unbecoming as it should have been. He also looked a bit hurt. 

Hermione sighed and decided to be blunt. After all, it had worked in her favor tonight. “If I stay down here with you, I doubt I would want to do much talking,” she admitted and this time, she found the courage to look him in the eyes. 

His jaw dropped open. “Holy shit Hermione. You can’t say that.”

“Well, get used to it. I quite like the reaction I’m getting. Goodnight Ron,” she said and headed up the stairs. 

“I hope I never get used to that. Hey, maybe you could wake Lavender up, send her down, and come back in twenty minutes?” he called. 

“I won’t be doing your homework for you,” she retorted with a grin. 

* * *

3\. January 12th,1997

**Excerpt from Chapter Eighteen of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince**

**_Harry dawdled behind, taking an inordinate amount of time to do up his bag. Neither Ron nor Hermione wished him luck as they left; both looked rather annoyed._ **

She could hear him approaching her quickly from behind but she was  _ so _ not in the mood for this. 

“Should we wait over here to see if he can get it?” asked Ron.

“Do as you like,” sniffed Hermione as she continued down the hall and stomped up the stairs. 

Ron scampered behind her. “Are you just planning to be mad at me forever? Harry might be a scheming arse in Potions but he’s still our best friend and we have to help him. This isn’t fair to him.”

Hermione continued forward, determined to escape to the safety of Professor Sinistra’s classroom. “Help him?” she threw back over her shoulder. “Yes, I’m sure you’re plenty of help when your lips are melded to hers every night in the common room. How are you even passing your cl- you know what? I don’t care,” she proclaimed and started to pick up the pace. 

And she didn’t care, but…

Hermione stopped and turned back to look at him. A couple of students that had been behind her stopped short to avoid crashing into her but quickly scurried on. “For the record, you started it! You ignored me first!”

“Well, I was angry but I’m not anymore.”

“Bully for you,” she growled. “I am.”

“Why?” 

“Why?  _ Why _ ?” Hermione let out a sardonic chuckle. “You want to know why…”

“Hermione, I just...I miss you. And I don’t understand why you’re being like this,” Ron pleaded. 

“You…” Unbelievable. No, un- _ fucking _ -believable. She wanted nothing more than to storm off, shield her bed and scream; no, cry. Probably scream, then cry. How could he be so oblivious?

He was a complete fool and it was time he knew. 

“How can you be so obtuse? You’re the only one who doesn’t know. Harry knows, Ginny knows, all of your dorm mates… your  _ girlfriend _ knows. That’s why she’s trying to get you to abandon your efforts to get me talking.”

“How does Lavender know?” and he  _ dared _ to sound irritated by this. 

“She knows that it should be  _ me _ !” Hermione exploded. “ _ I _ should be the one that’s holding your hand! I should be the one who you sit with in a chair that’s only made for one person! I should be the one wearing your jumper from last Christmas! I’m the one that you are supposed to kiss good morning and good night… it was supposed to be us!”

Hermione leaned back hard against the corridor wall and swiped at the tear that was rolling down her cheek. Ron was staring at her and his expression was for once, unreadable to her. It was in that moment that it set in what she had just screamed at him and she looked away.

“Ron, that was -” she began to stammer, “it was unfair of me to put that-” 

The end of her sentence died off because Ron had closed the gap between them and had his arm against the wall to brace himself. His face leaned down but his lips stopped just short of hers, hesitating for a moment. Hermione felt a stab of guilt in her stomach but decidedly ignored it. She took the opportunity and pressed forward until their lips touched. 

He immediately deepened the kiss and her mind went entirely blank. It was just lips sliding against each other, tongues entwined, hands running up and down. After months of only misery between the two of them, it felt  _ so good.  _

“Uh…” 

Ron yanked back at the sound of his sister’s voice. Hermione looked around Ron to see Ginny staring at them, eyes wide. “You guys are sort of in a public throughway. And you have a girlfriend. Or, at least you did at lunch.” 

Ginny’s words weren’t unkind but they were like a cold bucket of water dumped on Hermione’s head. Somewhere between her rant and the kiss, she had lost complete track of the fact that they were in no way alone, multiple students were gawking at them and Ron was absolutely not single. 

Ron rubbed his face. “Right. Hermione, you go to Arithmancy. I am going to go to the common room and wait for… wait for Divination to be over and end it. We can meet around 5 in the library? And talk then?” 

“Ron,” sighed Hermione, shaking her head. “You don’t-” 

“Hermione. You’re right. It should have been you. It still can be. I want it to be,” Ron said, his tone pleading. “Don’t you?” 

She had imagined the moment that they confessed their feelings to each other a million times. Many of her scenarios actually had involved a fight in a school hallway but none of them ended with him racing away thirty seconds later to break up with his girlfriend before she found out through the grapevine that they kissed.

She wasn’t sure what was worse; the guilt she felt about what they had just done or the fact that it wasn’t enough to make her regret it. 

Hermione met his eyes and nodded. A smile broke out across his face. 

“I’d make it 5:30. There’s about a 5% chance you’re the one breaking the news to Lavender,” said Ginny. 

“5:30,” agreed Ron. 

“I’m going to go in now,” said Hermione, pointing at the classroom. Now that she had done it once, she felt compelled to kiss him goodbye but for the first time this afternoon, she resisted her impulses. 

“For the record,” said Ron. “She stole that jumper. I didn’t give it to her. I’ll get it back.”

“Uh, no. I mean, I did sort of steal her...,” Hermione trailed off sheepishly. 

“You should call it even,” suggested Ginny. 

* * *

4\. March 6, 1997

**Excerpt from Chapter Nineteen of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince**

**_“Well, I would, but he’s always asleep when I go and see him!” said Lavender fretfully._ **

**_“Is he?” said Harry, surprised, for he had found Ron perfectly alert every time he had been up to the hospital wing, both highly interested in the news of Dumbledore and Snape’s row and keen to abuse McLaggen as much as possible._ **

**_“Is Hermione Granger still visiting him?” Lavender demanded suddenly._ **

**_“Yeah, I think so. Well, they’re friends, aren’t they?” said Harry uncomfortably._ **

“Eat more of that,” Ron said, gesturing to the sandwich balanced in her lap. 

“Why? Aren’t you dying to finish off my scraps? I know you hate the fact that your food is rationed in the hospital wing. By which I mean, you receive one serving,” Hermione replied.

“Yeah, but I can tell that you’re getting into that pre-exam mode and you’re probably already skipping a couple of breakfasts a week. Isn’t she?” Ron appealed to Harry. 

“Huh? Oh, yeah, Hermione wasn’t down today,” said Harry distractedly. He was peering in his school bag with his lit wand - likely looking for Malfoy on that stupid map again. 

“See? I’m right. Eat!”

She rolled her eyes playfully. It was infuriating that he knew her so well. And endearing. Merlin, wasn’t that just Ron in a nutshell? 

“Here,” she handed him the uneaten half of her sandwich. “You eat this and I promise to eat this apple.”

He looked her up and down and she hoped he didn’t notice the shiver that went up her spine at his appraising gaze. 

“Why don’t you eat the sandwich and I’ll take the apple?”

“Too much meat on it,” she said, wrinkling her nose. She took a bite from the apple, effectively ending that debate. 

“No such thing,” Ron scoffed. 

“Tell that to your arteries,” Hermione quipped. 

“I did not miss this,” said Harry offhandedly, still staring in his bag. 

Both Hermione and Ron froze. They had exchanged awkward apologies when he awoke on Sunday but they’d really only had about three minutes before Ginny entered the room. Since then, there hadn’t been an opportunity to talk alone any further. Instead, they had picked up where their friendship left off, with little acknowledgement of the rift or the real reason for it. Hermione  _ still  _ didn’t know what had set him off to begin with but he seemed to have a desire to return to the status quo that she found both frustrating and hard to resist. Maybe  _ that  _ was Ron in a nutshell. 

Harry seemed to realize what he said. “Oh, uh…”

“Yeah, well I didn’t miss  _ this _ ,” said Ron, gesturing at Harry and his map. “You’re so distracted by Malfoy that you let me ingest a janky love potion.”

“Oh, that’s my fault?” Harry retorted. 

“You know I have to be watched at all times so I don’t put things in my mouth that don’t belong there,” joked Ron. 

A week ago, she would have had a very biting response to that. 

“Yeah, yeah,” Harry said. “Hermione, we should go.”

“Oh, you’re right!” she stood up quickly. 

Ron groaned and tilted his head side to side. 

“Are you okay? Should I get Madame Pomfrey?” Hermione asked. 

“Just a headache. Pomfrey said it was normal after, you know, almost dying five days ago, but it might be that McGonagall is trying to kill me now.” He pointed at the Transfiguration book on his bed. 

“You’re still recovering! You aren't expected to be learning the new material,” Hermione said, curious as to where this studious Ron came from. After six years of friendship with Hermione, there’s no way that  _ Lavender _ was the one that got him to see his full potential. 

Ron turned red. “I’m not. I was - I wasn’t doing so great so she gave me extra homework. She said human transfiguration is really important for the Aurors and I have to get it down if I expect a recommendation from her. I have to nail the practical and write an essay on the adjustments I made.” 

That made more sense. She had surreptitiously been gauging Ron’s grades with Harry during their fight. She said it was because she hoped he was failing miserably without her help but she hadn’t been able to convince herself that was true, let alone Harry. She had sussed out that he was doing okay in everything except Transfiguration, which had been even more of a bear this term than ever before. 

“Well,” said Hermione. “I’d be happy to come back this evening and revise with you.” 

Ron’s eyes lit up. “That’d be great!”

“Um…” said Harry. “It might not be a great night to study. There might be some other people coming to visit you…” 

“Oh,” Hermione said. She knew what that meant. Lavender. Of course. She wasn’t sure if Lavender knew that they were friends again but Lavender was livid that Hermione had been informed of Ron’s poisoning before her and the relationship between the two girls was worse than ever. “Maybe tomorrow?” 

“McGonagall wanted to come get the essay tomorrow morning,” Ron sighed. “I’ll manage.” 

“I’m sorry,” Hermione apologized. 

“No reason to be,” said Ron, waving her off. And he was right. The unnecessary complications were pretty much all his fault, but that didn’t make her feel any less disappointed. 

“Bye Ron,” said Harry. 

“Bye,” he lifted his hand sadly. Hermione followed Harry out. 

As she sat through Potions class distracted, she thought about lunch and Ron’s Transfiguration struggles. She stewed a bit on the fact that he owed her more than the brief apology she had received - she still deserved an explanation as to his behavior prior to that Quidditch match! But all the Transfiguration talk had made her reflect on the fact that conjuring birds and commanding them to attack him might also require her to deliver more than a brief apology. 

“Hermione?” Harry inquired. 

She looked at him, blinking. “Yes?” 

“Class is over,” he informed her, gesturing at the students streaming out the door. 

“Oh, yes,” she said, gathering her books. 

“Are you okay?” asked Harry. 

“Yes, of course,” she said. “I have to get to Arithmancy. There’s a quiz.” 

Harry looked at her curiously. “Okay. Ginny, Demelza, and I have a free period so we’re going to go down to the pitch and fly. I have a feeling we’ll need to be sharper than ever this week.”

“Have fun,” she said and watched him head out the door. 

She walked up the steps toward her first floor classroom and paused a few steps away from the door. 

“Hey Hermione,” said Ernie Macmillan, squeezing past her. “Are you coming in? I wanted to see if you could clear something up for me before the quiz.” 

“Sorry Ernie,” she heard herself reply. “I have to go to the hospital wing.” 

“Oh,” he said, stepping back from her. “Are you okay?” 

“Sure,” she said and she turned and raced down the hall. 

As she approached the hospital wing, she slowed down and peeked around the doorway. It was quiet and she could see Ron sitting up in his bed. She smiled and quietly walked closer to his bed. As she drew nearer, she could see his book open on his lap along with a mirror. His wand was in his hand. 

“Hi,” she said shyly. 

“Hey!” he said, looking surprised. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, I had some time free up unexpectedly and I thought you might like the Transfiguration help now,” she said, hoping that sounded like a casual offer. Guilt was starting to seize up in her stomach. Skipping class when there was a quiz was bad enough but now that she was here… something felt wrong about sneaking into the hospital wing to see a boy who had a girlfriend. 

_ We’re friends and we always have been. I’m allowed to see him whenever I like _ , she told herself. 

“I’m glad you’re here. So I did figure out how to transfigure features on another person. Believe it or not, Pomfrey was a good sport and let me try a couple things on her when she brought my potions,” Ron gestured to the nurse’s quarters.

“That was nice of her,” Hermione said. She also thought it a bit brave but thought she should keep that to herself. 

“Yeah but now I have to be able to cast it on myself and I can’t get it right.”

“Okay,” she said, settling on the edge of his bed. “What’s the issue?”

“I’m only getting half way there. Like, when I tried to change my eyebrows, only one changed color. And the shape barely changed at all. And that’s just eyebrows!” 

“Hmm,” she said. “Let’s see then.”

He raised his wand and muttered the spell and just as he’d said, only one eyebrow darkened and kept its same shape. 

“Ah, I think it’s your wrist movement. And you should definitely use the mirror a few more times so you can have the image clear in your mind. Here, you hold the mirror for me and I’ll show you.”

He obediently held the mirror and she adjusted it in his grip to the correct angle. With a crisp wrist rotation, she changed her thick dark eyebrows and wild curls to a long golden blonde bob with eyebrows thinned and lightened. “Did you see how my wrist moved?”

“Yeah,” he said, scrunching his nose. 

“Don’t get that look! You’ll pick it up,” Hermione insisted. 

“Nah, it’s not that,” he said. “I just… don’t like that look for you.”

When she caught the glimpse of herself in the mirror, her eyes widened in horror. While noticeably lighter, the style still bore a striking resemblance to Lavender’s. 

“Right, sorry, I look ridiculous. Let me-”

“No!” he shouted. “I mean, you don’t look ridiculous at all. You-you never do. It’s just been weeks since we’ve sat down face to face and I want to look at the real you.”

“Hey Ron, I was just going to drop-” Harry had entered the hospital wing, broom over his shoulder, holding a copy of Quidditch Weekly. He did a double take. “Hermione? What are you doing?” 

The only thing more humiliating than accidentally transfiguring herself into a pale imitation of Ron’s beautiful girlfriend was getting caught in that state by Harry. If he was any sort of best friend then the first chance he got, he’d probably tell Ron what a desperate lunatic for his attention she’d turned into. Asking Cormac to the party, checking up on his grades, making snide comments about Lavender behind his back… 

“She was demonstrating glamour spells for me,” Ron explained. 

“No, I meant, your test. Aren’t you supposed to be taking an Arithmancy test?” Harry asked curiously. 

Oh yes. Add “skipping class to spend time tutoring him” to the desperation list. 

“It was only a quiz,” she murmured. Ron looked so shocked that she glanced in the mirror to make sure she hadn’t given herself an extra head. 

“Er, right. Well, here’s the newest issue mate. I’ll check in later,” Harry said, quickly running out the door. 

“He’s meeting Ginny and Demelza for a fly,” Hermione explained, although she was fairly certain Harry was more put off by her reenactment of Single White Female. The plot of that movie would be even more alarming in the magical world 

“You skipped a quiz?” Ron asked. 

“Well,” she said, fiddling with the corner of the blanket. “Yes.”

“Why?” 

“I- I want to see you succeed and I know how important it is to you to be an Auror,” she said.

“You help me all the time but not at the expense of your own work. It’s so unlike you.”

“Well,” she said softly. “I haven’t been feeling much like myself lately. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” he responded, his eyes still searching her face. “Speaking of which, can you?” 

He waved towards her face, still holding the spell. “Oh, right,” she said, embarrassed. “Although I’d have thought this look was a favorite of yours.”

She had promised herself that she would refrain from those comments to maintain the peace and here she had let one slip out. She picked her wand back up. 

“It’s really not,” he replied quietly. “There you are.”

She cleared her throat to tell him to try the spell himself now. But instead, she said, “Why did you stop talking to me?” 

“It was stupid,” he said, shaking his head. She felt a flash of anger. She was pretty sure it WAS stupid but she still deserved to know. 

“I skipped Arithmancy for you,” she said, trying to smile. Catch more flies with honey, right? 

Ron took a deep breath. “Ginny told me something about you that I didn’t know. And she knew it and Harry knew it but I… I didn’t. I felt stupid and jealous for not knowing.” 

“What was it?” she asked, confused. 

“It doesn’t matter and I-I don’t want to fight anymore,” Ron said. 

“Fight?” she asked. What would both Harry and Ginny know that Ron didn’t? And then it clicked.  _ Viktor _ . This started because of something to do with Viktor. 

Before she could say anything more, Ron spoke. “Why did you stop talking to  _ me _ ?” 

“Because I guess I was stupid and jealous too.” 

“Jealous of what?” he whispered. 

She didn’t even know how but the two of them were now sitting so close that for her to get any closer, she would need to be in his lap. And the way he was holding her gaze …in her gut, she knew that if she answered this question honestly, he was going to kiss her. But he had a girlfriend. 

“Not what,” said Hermione. “Her.”

She was right. 

The kiss was the opposite of the many, many versions she had seen Ron share with Lavender. It was soft, gentle and slow, sending tingles from her head to her toes. His hands were buried in her once again curly hair and he kept pulling it through his fingers as they continued kissing. 

“I’ve wanted to do that for a long time,” Ron confessed, when they pulled apart. “And that’s why I was jealous.”

“What?”

“Viktor… he kissed you first. He was your first kiss. I wanted that to be me,” Ron admitted. 

“Oh,” she said. 

“I told you it was stupid.”

“Well, yes,” she agreed. “But I sort of get it. I mean, how many firsts have I missed out on with you?” 

“Not that many,” said Ron, blushing. “I promise.”

“Okay,” she said. “Just- just save the rest for me?”

“Hermione! Really?” he said, now grinning widely. 

“Not like that!” she said, blushing. “Well, okay, like that, but other stuff too. And in due time.”

“Well,” he sighed. “I do have one last first with Lavender. I would share it with you but I don’t think it’s going to be pretty.”

“I’ll leave you to handle that yourself.”

“And then?” he asked, the unspoken question hanging between them. 

“Yes.” The two of them grinned at each other but the look on his face gave her another pang of guilt. Lavender was going to show up tonight intending to comfort her boyfriend who was the same guy that Hermione was desperately trying to not kiss again. 

“I should go then,” Hermione said. 

“Maybe you’ll try to come back later?”

She thought about all her dumb moves of desperation and thought she should play it cool now. Give the relationship a little space in deference to Lavender. “Absolutely.”

_ Whoops _ .

* * *

And back to 1… November 16, 1996

**Excerpt from Chapter Fourteen in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince**

**_But Ron had already strode past her out of the door with his broomstick over his shoulder._ **

**_“Er,” said Harry into the sudden silence; he had not expected his plan to backfire like this, “shall… shall we go up to the party, then?”_ **

**_“You go!” said Hermione, blinking back tears. “I’m sick of Ron at the moment, I don’t know what I’m supposed to have done…”_ **

**_And she stormed out of the changing room too._ **

She was fuming. What the  _ hell _ was his problem? She knew he’d be thrilled to know he made her swear, even just in her head, and that made her even angrier. She’d planned to take a walk and attend the party with a cooler head but at the last second, she decided to blow past the party, grab her school books, and hide in the library until Madam Pince kicked her out. 

She stormed through the portrait hole and past the gathering partygoers without a second glance. She took the stairs to her dorm two at a time and saw the door cracked open. Voices were streaming out. She stopped and took a deep breath to calm down before entering. She really hated the idea of giving Lavender and Parvati anything to gossip about. 

“If ever there was a day to make a play at Ron, it’s today.”

Parvati’s comment stopped her cold. She heard Lavender giggle before responding. “He seems interested enough but after flirting for a couple of weeks, I've determined there’s only one way to get this done. Refresh hair, put on lipstick, march downstairs, grab him, and snog the life out of him.”

“I don’t think hinting is going to get you any farther,” agreed Parvati. 

“Right. Okay, hand me that tube and then we’ll do last looks.”

She backed away from the door. Lavender had a plan to snog Ron tonight. Hermione had been cautiously and carefully laying the path to escalate from best friends to a romantic relationship with Ron since she was 15 and Lavender had been interested in him for what, two months? And she was just going for it tonight. Her entire plan was makeup and kissing?

Hermione immediately turned around and rushed back down the stairs. The crowd in the common room had grown but Ron was still at the center of it, chatting with his dorm mates sans Harry. 

“Hey Hermione,” said Neville. “Are you-” 

The question died out as Hermione pushed Neville aside, threw her arms around Ron’s neck, pulled him down, and smashed her lips against his. It wasn’t particularly gentle but within seconds, he had tilted his head to a more comfortable angle and wrapped his arms around her. 

As he moved his lips against hers, she could only think one thing. 

_ Lavender was a genius! _

Why on earth would Hermione think Ron - a boy who had never given any indication that nuance was his strong suit - would understand her true intentions when she gave him long looks or saved her last Chocolate Frog for him or let her fingers linger on his elbow during rounds? No, he needed a girl to make her interest so obvious that his brain couldn’t possibly second guess it. 

She finally pulled away and took a moment to look at him. The expression on Ron’s face was utterly gobsmacked, but it was only because she knew him so well that she caught a flicker of doubt in his eyes. 

Well, double or nothing. 

“I fancy you,” she said. Her statement was meant to be quiet and only for his ears. However, her entrance must have attracted everyone’s attention because all conversation had stopped and the entire room was listening. 

Like everyone else in the room, Ron was completely focused on her. He blinked once before nodding his head fervently. “Yeah, yes. I mean, I do too. I fancy you as well,” he responded, reclaiming his vocabulary with every passing moment. 

“Holy shit Granger, that took some stones,” cackled Seamus. 

“Lavender’s not going to like this,” she heard Neville, ever the peacekeeper, mutter to Dean. 

Ron ignored them all and cupped her face before bringing his lips to hers. 

“Filthy hypocrite,” she heard Ginny say from somewhere in the room and she felt one of Ron’s hands leave her face. By the laughter that followed, she assumed he was giving Ginny a one finger salute. 

Hermione pulled away again. “I know this party is all for you but do you want to get out of here?”

“More than anything,” he answered eagerly. She laughed, grabbed his hand, and pulled him to the portrait hole. As they exited to whispers and snickers, she noticed Lavender at the bottom of the staircase, looking as gobsmacked as Ron had moments ago. Parvati was consoling her but also looked a bit amused. 

She exited the common room first and as soon as Ron was through, she was quick to snog him again. It was one of the most exhilarating feelings she had ever experienced and she started to wonder if kissing him was a mistake because this might be the only thing she ever wanted to do for the rest of her life. 

Ron started to move his lips faster against hers and while it’s not completely unpleasant, it’s a bit sloppier than she wanted at the moment. She could feel how fast his heart was beating now that the reality of the situation had set in. She moved her hands up to the nape of his neck and drew soft circles with her fingers to calm him. He slowed down to a more pleasurable pace and then he started to gently trace her lips with his tongue before slipping it in. Now it was her turn to be over eager as she jabbed her tongue into his open mouth. It took a few moments of second guessing herself but they stuck with it, the rhythm settling as Ron moved his hands to sink into her hair, eliciting a moan from her. 

“Er…”

They jumped apart at the sound of an uncomfortable voice and saw their mutual best friend gawping at them. 

“Oh, hi Harry,” said Ron in a tone Hermione knew he thought was casual. 

“What-”

“We’re going for a walk,” Hermione interrupted, grabbing Ron’s hand once again and jerking him down the corridor. They could deal with Harry later. 

“But,” sputtered Harry, taking a step in to follow them. 

“Later,” barked Ron over his shoulder. “We’ll talk later.”

Hermione pulled him to an empty classroom that stored some old furniture and sat down on a slightly dusty green couch. She looked up at him expectantly. 

“Should we like, talk or something?” he asked her. 

“I suppose but we’ve been talking for six years. Let’s take a break for tonight,” Hermione responded, grabbing for his arm. 

“Brilliant,” he said and plopped down next to her. She leaned in to kiss him when he chuckled. 

“What?” she huffed, frustrated at being denied what she never even wanted to stop in the first place. 

“I’m on board with the plan to talk later,” Ron said and he lifted his hand to push some of her hair behind her ears. “But I have to ask - what inspired all this?”

She shrugged. “I decided to copy someone else’s homework.”

**Author's Note:**

> There will be a bonus companion posted as chapter 2 to this fic shortly. Not to give too much away but as a preview… I’m a #justiceforlavender kind of girl and Ron might end up feeling a bit more guilty in that section.


End file.
